The Farewell
by Aliucon
Summary: Ema Skye is going to study abroad after the events regarding her sister's case. Before she goes, however, Phoenix invites her to lunch together, quite suddenly. The result is an unexpected discovery. Phoenix X Ema.


**Legal Disclaimer:** Though I own this story,"Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" characters belong to Capcom, not to me, so no copyright intended regarding those characters (if it counts, though, the waiter in the story is mine!)

**My Disclaimer:** As spoiler-free as possible, though it may hint spoilers from the last cases of the following games. "Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney" and "Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney".

--------------------

**The Farewell**

--------------------

Phoenix sighed, and straightened his all-purpose blue suit to seem more respectful. Looking around, he saw himself at a big fancy restaurant, sat on an armchair, admiring the beauty of the white fur carpet and magnificent blood-red walls. It was quite a place to be, a total change from his usual burger joint, where he went frequently with Maya on his toes. Right now, he was there alone, admiring the place and, at the same time, feeling uncomfortable with all that luxury. But he wouldn't be alone for long, he hoped. Today was a special day. Though...he couldn't say it was a happy day altogether...

"Hey! Sorry I'm late!" a shout came from near the restaurant's entrance. Recognizing the voice, Phoenix stood up and looked to that direction. Well, he didn't need to see anything else than that familiar lab coat and pair of magenta glasses to know who it was for sure.

Ema hurried forward to meet up with her friend lawyer Phoenix. When she got close enough, she stopped to catch her breath. Made Phoenix think that she had run all the way up there.

"Are you alright, Ema?" he asked, worrying. When he leaned foward to check on her, he noticed she was sweating a bit. But any further worry was proven unfounded, when she beamed upon him and adjusted her glasses.

"Sure! I'm OK, Mr. Wright! So sorry I took this long. I missed the bus here for exactly...huh..." she took her notebook and pen out, and scribbled something. "About 4,3243 seconds! Can you believe it?" she didn't seem too annoyed by the fact though, and looked at Phoenix waiting for him to comment anything

_Scientific way of saying she missed the bus?_ Phoenix thought to himself, but said nothing and smiled back to her. He indicated the table he was sat at up to now. "Take a seat, Ema," he said, out loud this time. She complied happily, and sat at the long table that Phoenix pointed to. It was quite interesting, the light-blue table cloth contrasted noticeably with all the red that built the place's atmosphere. Phoenix also sat, opposite his perky friend. Ema rested her hands on the table and kept staring at Phoenix. He noticed that she was doing that… A little too much, maybe?

"I-Is there something on my face?" He frowned, feeling his cheeks blush a little. Ema then noticed what she was doing, and smiled timidly.

"Sorry, Mr. Wright! It's just that…I'm still impressed! I mean, because of you…everything ended well in that case… And, well, besides that, you offer me a farewell lunch now since I'm going abroad. And you let me decide the restaurant, even! That's so… kind of you!" She added, seemingly excited. Phoenix blushed a bit deeper. Yeah, it was true. When he heard that Ema was going to leave (that afternoon, in fact), he felt a sting on his stomach he couldn't explain. Maybe it was an imprudent thing to offer a farewell lunch to her, especially since she chose quite an expensive restaurant, claiming she had always wanted to be there with Lana, but never could because she was always too busy working on her "Chief Prosecutor's affairs". But he couldn't help it now. Even if he was just about to lose quite a chunk of money…

"W-Well…" he started, thinking about what to say. "I wouldn't let your leave be unnoticed… After all, you're a friend. And since nobody else but Lana seemed concerned with that, I…"

Ema's smile tightened a little. "Yeah, I don't have that many friends around here," she replied, moving her glasses up so she could properly see Phoenix. "Never had the chance to meet many people. I am always too busy studying. But that's nice, isn't it? I mean, I'll be able to become the best forensic scientist ever! Right, Mr. Wright?" she inquired, now with a distinguished sparkle in her eyes.

"Please…just call me Phoenix." He asked. Then shuddered. Ema seemed to evaluate the possibility. Scientifically, possibly.

"Right…Phoenix," she slowly voiced it, still staring at him. An awkward silence took over, for a few seconds. About the time for someone to notice that the waiter had just approached them.

"Good morning to you both," the waiter started, as soon as Phoenix took notice of his presence. He was a young and rather tall guy, wearing a black characteristic suit over a white bottomed shirt, carrying a tea set with his right hand and two closed menus in the other. He offered one to Phoenix and Ema, then bowed to them as a sign of respect. "Here are the menus. If you want anything, please s-"

"Oh, wow!" Ema gasped, surprised with the length of the menu. "This is a lot! There are so many to choose from! Hey, what are those…?"

She inquired about practically all of the 32 different dishes on the menu, and the waiter patiently replied to all of them, as formal and concisely as someone would expect from a professional. While they talked, Phoenix's eyes were fixed on Ema. In a way, he was glad very few people were around having lunch at the same restaurant: Ema was so excited, even twitching sometimes, that it would definitely attract too much attention to them. Then again… her delightful, almost ecstatic expression was one of the cutest things he ever saw. He felt so drawn to her sight, he barely noticed when the waiter was finished talking to her and came to him.

"Sir? Would you like to order something as well?"

"Oh, right, sure! I'll…huh…" Phoenix crossed his arms, thoughtful. Totally missed what Ema had ordered, so he wasn't that sure of what to order himself. He scrolled his eyes through the menu and found a familiar name. "I want this Caesar's Burger, please."

"Thy will be given," the waiter replied, noting on a little device attached to his pulse, probably a palmtop. A second later, he headed to the kitchen, just opposite to the direction of the entrance.

"So, Mr. W… I mean, Phoenix!" Ema amended the statement quickly, and blushed slightly upon calling him Phoenix again, for whatever reason. "Can you tell me about how you became an attorney? I mean, you seem like such a cool lawyer, with all the finger-pointing and the "Objections!" and all of that! It was amazing to see your work first-hand!"

Phoenix smiled widely. Ah, suddenly it seemed so nice to have a fan of sorts.

They talked about how Phoenix first became an attorney, why, and Phoenix told her a lot about Mia and Maya. Then they continued on with some of the cases Phoenix had managed to win despite all odds, and Ema thought they were all impressive, even epic. She turned out to be very skeptical when Phoenix mentioned Maya's powers, though, as he had expected, since she was so linked to science. They argued over it, but logically and friendlily. After they were done with that, Ema engaged on the explaining of a string of mundane things that had quite a scientific background explanation. Phoenix always got lost when she was in the middle of explaining anything, but he occasionally nodded to warn her that he was listening closely. And then, as she finished numbering all the little necessary chemical reactions needed for the luminol to work properly, the food came. Phoenix noticed then that Ema didn't order anything too exquisite, despite the whole time she and the waiter talked. He couldn't identify what exactly it was that that the waiter placed on the table, in front of her. It came in a bowl full of meat slices, some vegetables, and chili peppers, all of that half-immersed in a red liquid that had some consistency for itself, like ketchup or something.

"Oh, Phoenix, this is a Chinese dish called Shuizhu," Ema asserted, seeing how puzzled Phoenix was at that moment. "I asked mine to be with filleted whitefish and slightly less salt than they tend to put on. For this dish, they tend to boil the meat in water for about 30 seconds, much better than frying. It's also made with water, starch, and seasoned with minced garlic and dried chili pepper. It's pretty good!"

"Wow." Phoenix was in awe, not exactly because Ema knew how the dish was made, but because of the choice. He DID offer her the liberty of choice, and she didn't buy a dish that was expensive: that one was rather cheap, actually, as he saw when he took a look on the menu. He silently thanked God: he would probably be able to pay the bills in full this month. Now he only had to worry about those of the previous months…

Ema giggled as the waiter stationed the so-called Caesar's sandwich in front of Phoenix. It seemed like a regular burger, but with all kinds of vegetables going in the stuffing, besides the big juicy hamburger.

"Bon appetite," the waiter bowed to them again, and left.

They spent some minutes, eating. Ema was extremely well mannered while she ate, eating regularly slow and always keeping the table-napkin close at hand, should any of the red water spot her lips too much. This made Phoenix feel a bit ashamed of his own eating habits of gnawing the burgers, only being slower than Maya at that, which is saying much. In order to look a bit more respectful, Phoenix tried to mimic Ema's chewing speed, withdrew both elbows that rested against the table, and went as far as to try and use tableware, something to which Ema responded with a loud laugh.

"Haha, using cutlery for a burger? C'mon, Phoenix!" She giggled. "No need to seem so…formal, right?"

_She sure got the hang of calling me by the first name quickly…_ Phoenix thought as he set the fork and knife aside to eat his burger 'properly'. Then he wondered why he even noticed that.

As Ema finished her lunch, he did, too, and was now deliberately slowing down on the chewing more than Ema. It troubled him what was going to happen after that: she would probably have to go home so she could get all her luggage and then head abroad. He wasn't sure he would be able to take it well. This made him remember the day Maya went away to finish her training in Kurain. It had been hard for him to let her go, but he felt now it would be as hard to let Ema just go like that, and the two of them were not even big friends! Phoenix tried to think she would someday be back, when she finished her studies, but then he had to wonder why was it so hard for him to see Ema bid that place farewell and carry on with her life. And…

"Phoenix? Y-You're OK, right?" He heard Ema's voice calling him, even stuttering for a brief moment. He raised his head and saw that she bent forward, looking at him with a worried expression. Phoenix quickly straightened.

"I-I'm fine, Ema. It's nothing…" he promptly replied. Ema tilted her head to the side, not entirely convinced. Seconds later, though, she smiled and leaned back against her chair again. Then she sighed.

"Phoenix, I got to go now," she finally announced. Phoenix felt his heart executing a painful acrobatic trick inside his chest. As Ema stood up, he followed suit, a little too nervous than he would've liked to appear to be.

They went to the cash register for Phoenix to pay the bill. And, for the first time in his life, he cursed the fact that there was no line there, which made the process of paying the bill too quick. Though he had no intention of hindering Ema any longer, he couldn't help it but think that way…

"That was really great, Phoenix!" Ema happily exclaimed as they left the restaurant and walked through the sidewalk to the nearest bus station. "Many thanks for that!"

"Now, now, it was nothing…" Phoenix said, slightly surprised with how much Ema seemed to have appreciated such a small thing. Her eyes were glowing, and all the contentedness expressed over her face seemed very genuine. It was all very charming and, despite the fact that she was going to leave that day, her smile made him temporarily forget that fact. Ema had been this cheerful ever since they met for the first time, and that didn't seem like it would change…or so he thought, at that moment…

They heard a big motor roar, and turned around to see it was a bus. They were just getting to the bus station, and the bus was already on its way there. Ema stopped and faced Phoenix. Their nearness made Phoenix blush slightly right then.

"So, Phoenix…thanks for everything! I owe you quite a lot, especially since you got me off the mess on that case…and I will repay you someday, OK? I promise."

Then, without any other word, she hugged him. A warm, friendly embrace, that had a very pleasant feel to both, exposing physically the bond they developed on that brief time they had together. Phoenix responded in kind, slowly wrapping his arms around Ema, too, pressing her tightly against him. He would have kept like that for longer, if it wasn't for the bus that passed aside on to the bus station. Ema then withdrew her arms and looked forward, glancing at the considerable amount of people that were now embarking on the bus, and back to Phoenix.

"Good bye, Phoenix. Take care. Until next time! Oh, and I promise I'll bring you a scientific souvenir!" she declared, smiling at the end of the sentence. Then, she turned around and ran towards the bus before it left.

At that time, Phoenix almost stretched his hand to call for her again, but knew that he should let her go already, no more getting in her way. He was static, as he saw Ema get to the bus and give him one last look before embarking. A look so mysterious; a mix of sadness, hope and happiness. It was over as soon as the bus driver activated the electric door to close.

And then the bus took off.

Later, Phoenix came back to his office, where he should have been the whole day. But work was the last thing he wanted to do now. He felt like going home as soon as possible to rearrange his thoughts and stop grieving over the absence of everyone there. First was Mia, then Maya had to leave, and now Ema…

The first thing he did when he arrived at the office was water Charlie, the only other living being around there. For a moment, he pictured him and Charlie talking about trial law: he was probably very knowledgeable, given the fact he had been there with Mia for a long time before Phoenix even started to advocate. He played with that thought while he finished watering his only present friend and then moved to take a seat on Mia's swivel chair that was now his. Then, taking a look at the amount of books in the nearby bookshelf (he was sure Mia had read them all, but he highly doubted he would be able to accomplish the same), he took one by choice and started to read it. He skimmed through the text, not being able to focus on a single line, actually. His mind was totally absent. Then, after 10 minutes, he gave up and threw the book over his desk in frustration. He hastily stood up and opened the window to get some fresh air into the office.

Nothing was working to prevent him from thinking about his loneliness. He wasn't even sure why he was suffering so much on the inside because of that. He did stand alone for some time without Maya close to him. All he knew was that the fact that Ema was leaving had somehow made him more fragile. He looked at his watch: it was 1:30 PM. Not much time had passed since they bid each other farewell and he was already missing her presence. And then, there was the thought that they wouldn't see each other for years, maybe never, if they weren't able to keep contact.

And then, Phoenix made a decision. Grabbing his wallet out of the pocket, he quickly selected some coins to hold to, put them aside and then returned it to its original place. He hoped he wasn't going to be wasting that money for nothing, but at the same time, if he didn't do that, he might not forgive himself in the future…

Ema stretched herself and yawned. She had sat there for about half an hour, carrying two heavy suitcases and a purse full of elements she's been testing at home, and no sign of the incoming train she would take. There were very few passengers for that train, it seemed: a couple that sat on the chairs behind her, a family with three kids that were making some noise to the left, and a woman way too focused in reading the newspaper to notice anything else. It was quite boring to stay all that time there, doing nothing. And, for once, she wasn't exactly willing to open up her science books to pass the time, so she kept staring at the a big clock affixed to a concrete pillar to her right. It was still 2:00 PM. Time passes pretty slowly when you want it to just speed up and get everything done with, she thought to herself, lowering her head and distractedly stroking her left arm.

Then, she felt someone nudging her shoulder. Instinctively, she looked back, and was amazed to check who it was, almost falling on the ground when she tried to stand up so she could talk to him properly.

"P-Phoenix!! What…what are you doing here?"

Of course it was him, she wouldn't mistake that blue suit, red tie and spiky hair for belonging to anyone else (seriously, his wardrobe probably didn't have anything else, and that hairstyle was unique). But she couldn't think why he was right there, in front of her, panting a bit, as if he had run all the way up to the train station.

He took some seconds to answer, as he caught his breath.

"I'm sorry, I…just wanted to see you departing, Ema. Since, huh…" He put a bit too much thought in that before saying it out loud. "Since I had nothing to do at the office! Yeah…"

Ema couldn't perceive his true intentions, but she figured that wasn't the real motive. And now, she wasn't sure what she was feeling. She was really happy that at least someone was there to acknowledge her leave, to be there with her until the moment she had to dismiss her homeland, everything she had built while she was there, to explore a new world abroad. But then, it was strange that it was Mr. Wright who was there. Of course, she knew that Lana would never be able to be present there, but…

Then she had to wonder why she was internally bugged with Mr. Wright there. After all, he WAS a friend… and, compared to others, the few she had, he was quite close. Or at least she felt that way. And thinking like that made a smile form timidly on her face.

"Phoenix…" she said, twinkly. "You should have called me to say you were coming! I could have even gone away by now, couldn't I?"

"Well…I guess." Phoenix replied, defeated. Ema chuckled.

"Well then, if you can stay, I would love to have your company!" Then she pointed to the chair just beside the one she was sitting on before he arrived. "C'mon, sit down."

With an expression of gratitude, Phoenix flopped down on it. Ema sat normally beside him. And, suddenly, both seemed silent. This had happened in the restaurant not long ago, and it bothered Ema quite a lot. She wasn't sure about what to say, which subject to take, what to…

"Wow, you're taking all of that with you, Ema?" Phoenix questioned upon taking a look over the luggage she carried. Ema wasn't bugged with the question: she silently thanked him for stating something from which they would be able to start a conversation.

"Uh, yeah, I'll be spending a lot of time there, right? I figured I needed to take as much as I could…"

"Still, will you be able to carry all of that?"

"Of course!" Ema replied, adjusting her pair of glasses happily. "I got here with it on a bus…it will be no problem to go around with it until I find the place I'll be staying."

"So, everything is settled there for you? You won't struggle with finding a place for you to stay, right? You have any contacts there?" Phoenix insisted. He seemed to be quite worried, so Ema tried to assume a stronger, assured tone.

"Yeah, my sister helped taking care of everything. Though it was mostly me, of course! I had to arrange a good portion of it. So, see, I can take care of myself," she added, quite suddenly. Thinking that might be taken in a harsh way (as if she wanted him to stop being worried already) she quickly elaborated. "I mean, you don't really need to worry about me. I wouldn't undergo any unnecessary risks."

"Well, if you so sure, then it's OK." Phoenix responded, smiling timidly to her, that responded in kind.

Silence. This was getting Ema pretty nervous. Then she decided to ask the only thing that came to her mind when Phoenix expressed his worry like that:

"Why do you worry so much, Phoenix?"

She expected a quick answer, thinking it was something as simple as because they were friends. But Phoenix remained quiet, his head now lowered, thoughtful. Ema leaned closer to him, as to check on him, and saw him shudder.

"Well?" She insisted.

"I…" He seemed to be trying to come up with the right words, but failing at it. This rendered one or two minutes without response, and Ema started to think about why he was taking so long. Could it be more complicated than she thought?

She couldn't think about it much, when she saw Phoenix's head raising again and looking to the trail's direction. "I don't know. I just…really felt the need of being here. With you."

Ema felt herself blush upon hearing that. Phoenix also reddened a little, when he took a glance at Ema. None of them seemed to notice that Phoenix hadn't exactly answered the question, but rather declared what he felt.

"Y-You did? But why?" she stuttered, her eyes staring at Phoenix now. He thought it had something to do with he knowing that she would be all alone when she departed, so he pitied her or something and came just to be nice. This particular thought wasn't that nice to Ema, though…

"Because you're leaving and…well, we won't see each other for so long…and I thought, I…that thought pains me…"

Ema abruptly felt her heart pump stronger in her chest. He was actually there because he didn't want them to be separated, and wanted to stay with her until that was absolutely necessary, unstoppable. That meant…he wanted her close? He wanted her to be around? But she really had to go abroad, study, it was her wish to become the best forensic scientist…

Then, she suddenly understood what the silence meant.

The people in the surroundings stood up. Ema quickly looked forward and saw the train was arriving. So focused on the conversation they were having, she didn't even hear the train's approach.

Ema got up as soon as she saw it. Phoenix followed, and helped her carry her luggage to the train. However, before they entered, Ema stopped walking and turned around to Phoenix, who halted as well.

"Phoenix…" she started, looking, at the same time, happy and grieving on the inside. "Thank you very much for today. I really had fun spending time with you. A-And, huh…I promise I'll come back as soon as I can, OK?" she added, trying to sound more optimistic, so Phoenix wouldn't have such a sad face upon seeing her leave. And sure enough, this made him smile a little.

"Thanks…you take care, OK, Ema?"

"Sure! Oh, and…Phoenix. I have something to you."

Saying that, she ripped off from her lab coat the largest of the three pins she used, and gave it to him. He looked at it and examined with interest.

"Your pin…?"

"Yeah! Please…please keep that as a memento. It's a nice and useful pin, actually." Ema asserted, getting full of herself. After all, that wasn't just a regular pin…

"It's…unique." Phoenix said, still examining it from top to bottom. "But…why do you say it's useful? Latest fashion in Paris?"

She laughed. "No, no, it's not that. Huh…you'll have to discover by yourself." Now she smirked for a little while. "Consider this a last scientific puzzle from me until I come back, OK?"

Phoenix laughed, too. If Ema wasn't in somewhat of a hurry because the driver was scowling at her (the only passenger that hadn't embarked yet), she would have thought about how difficult it was to see Phoenix laughing so openly like that. "OK, thanks for giving me what to do while my office doesn't get any clients, Ema."

She smiled to him. "You're welcome, then. Eh, but now, I…must depart…"

"Yes, I know…"

Ema was about to turn around, when she felt Phoenix's arms wrap around her and clasp. She responded in kind. Now she truly felt how close he wanted her to be. The warmth of the hug was different than the previous one: it felt closer, intimate, sincere. They held on each other until the driver complained. Then they had to part ways. Ema hastily entered the train after that. She chose where she would sit, and placed the luggage on the immediate next chair, without caring much how it landed there, because the train had begun to move and she wanted to look outside to see Phoenix. He had been following her way through the train, it seems, because he was looking directly at her. And, as the train moved, he walked along, wanting to keep the eye contact. Ema, even though grieving now that their time was up, kept looking, enjoying the last sight she would have of him for some years. And, when he couldn't keep up anymore with the train, she looked at him tenderly and blew him a kiss.

And just like that, the train made the first curve, and Phoenix disappeared.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------


End file.
